June 18 - Massachusetts

Quick update (for some reason I am still running on that Atlantic Time!).

I know I was going to post about the hotels today. However, upshot was I spent over 3 hours on borrowed phones today to Verizon trying to get the rental phone service restored to my regular phone. I called Verizon last month about getting a temporary international plan; no problem. Two weeks before I left I called back to reconfirm. Good thing I did. Turns out Canada recently switched their phone service, and my phone would no longer work up there.

I do not own a smartphone; do not want or need one. All I want is talk and text. I have a laptop for everything else! Verizon sent me a free rental 3G phone, and the activation was easy-peasy. I was told the reactivation of my regular phone would be the same.

Not so. It has been a long, excrutiatiang process to switch back. As mentioned - a total of over 3 hours and 4 different "technical support" people before one finally managed to get it correct. Ugh.

Tomorrow when I have calmed down I will call Verizon customer service and give them a good piece of my mind :)

Therefore, I was not really in the best of moods to post about the hotels tonight. Played catch-up today with my regular email (almost 100 messages in 10 days!), plus checked all my banking and credit card stuff over a secure connection to ensure no nefarious activity had occurred. It did not.

Big piece of advice, and one which I will follow next time! If you do not own a 3G or 4G phone and travel out of the US, the best bet would be to purchase a disposable cell when you arrive at your destination. Today's hassle of 3 hours on the phone for the 10 days I had on the Android (which I do not really care for, BTW) was so not worth it.


Tomorrow, I PROMISE I will review the hotels and post the pics :)

June 17 - Massachusetts, Home

Again, no pix today - another travel day.

Last night I was just tired and my back was really bothering my from the long drive. Ordered delivery from my hotel (pasta primavera) and zonked out.

Made it back home safe and sound, and glad to be back. It was not a really long drive from Bangor; took me about 5 hours total. That included a few stops, the longest being for lunch and gas at the Kennebunk, Maine, service plaza.

I think I am still sort of on Atlantic Time. I had put in a wake-up call at the hotel last night, but woke at 5:15 AM today. Could not get back to sleep, so I gave up and got up. Called the front desk to cancel the wake-up call and had the requisite in-room coffee. Showered and slowly (very slowly) began loading the car. I peeked in the dining room at the continental breakfast, but there was nothing that caught my eye, and I was anxious to get on the road and head home. I did snag a muffin for my snack pack!

Checked the oil in my car prior to leaving; it was down a quart so I added it. She is older and burns oil; but only the second time I have had to add oil on this trip (I keep a few quarts in the trunk for that purpose).

Rested a good while at the Kennebunk service plaza. Had an early lunch (still on that Atlantic Time!) and managed to snag a cushy seat as opposed to the wooden ones that make up the majority of the food court area. Fueled up the car, hit the road again, and was home very early afternoon.

Took what I could out of the car, and with hands full made it upstairs (I live on the second floor of an old Victorian apartment building). My wonderful brother came over about an hour later, saved my day, and lugged all the rest of my stuff upstairs for me.

He is the best :)

Traffic was really not bad, even with the construction on the Maine Turnpike (which is ever ongoing - however they know how to do it correctly). Hampton tolls were not too bad, fortunately even for a Friday the majority of the traffic was heading north. End of Laconia bike week.

As usual the worst traffic was on 495S in Massachusetts. Long lines of trucks, idiots doing under 70 in the high-speed lane, etc. I survived :)

Although I loved my trip and cannot say enough good things about the great time I had, the places I visited and the things I saw and did, I am glad to be home. So glad to see my kitties, who were very happy to see me as well! I am unpacked, and have a mountain of laundry to deal with. Tomorrow!

I know I said I would run a critique of the hotels today; however I am getting tired and ready to head for (my own!) bed. And Dove bars!!! My weakness. I have been deprived :) And I think I am still running a bit on that Atlantic Time.

Tomorrow I will give a rundown on the hotels (and there are pix!).

The Defiant Traveler has returned to her home base :)

The next trip I am contemplating - well it is a ways off still, and I am trying to get a few people onboard with me as it is quite a journey and would be better off shared.

June 16 - Bangor, Maine

Another travel day today (long one), so not many pix to share. I am settled into my hotel in Bangor for the night. Checked out of the hotel on PeI, fueled up for the road on a hot breakfast. Same as yesterday, except I had 2 pieces of bacon today. I am not a big bacon fan/eater, but I had a very long way to go!

Wore my new sneaks!

And of course... the day dawned sunny and bright! Not a raindrop in sight. Sigh. It was still pretty cold, but I dressed for the temp at my destination (Bangor). The trip was uneventful. A few delays due to construction, but very few. I ran into some showers before and after I crossed the Confederation Bridge and headed toward Saint John, New Brunswick.

Entry to Confederation Bridge

On the bridge

The border crossing took some time. It is like a toll booth setup, and they had 6 lanes. Only 1 was open. Even on a Thursday there was a line of traffic. I did not take pix there because, well, homeland security and all.

I WAS worried because the person in front of me was a U-Haul; if it was full it would take quite a bit of time. Fortunately, it was empty (as I saw when the border guard looked in the back) :) Mine was easy - they ask where you are from and heading, where you were coming from, how long you have been there, and if you are bringing anything back.

I just told hin gifts and souveniers; he asked what sort. Then asked if I had any food (I said no, I did not tell him I had a bag of M&Ms in my snack pack!) or alcohol. I had 4 beers left from Canada, and the guy laughed. I said I had bought them (with tax!) and was not going to leave them behind. He agreed and I was free to re-enter the USA.

It was any easy drive from there to my hotel in Bangor, albeit long. Arrived pretty much on schedule. I think this has been the longest drive yet. It was over 7 hours with stops for gas etc.

Change of plans for tomorrow. I just really want to be home at this point, see my kitties, unpack, and see my brother. Rest these weary bones and my back from the road! It will take about 4 hours; maybe a little more with stopping for gas and dealing with Massachusetts traffic. I can do an overnight trip to the Penobscott Island pretty much any time. Also you are not allowed to take any pictures without prior approval from the Tribal Council. That has changed since I last visited.

Some extremely random observations I have about what little I have seen of Canada and the Maritime Provinces. If you are Canadian and following, please do not take any of this personally. I only visited for a very short time.

Drivers: New Brunswick and PEI are tied for most polite, but I will give the most polite award to NB. Nova Scotians drive very fast. That is fine when you are in your own country, and I can definitely relate!! But I did not want to risk a speeding ticket up there (it probably had lots of taxes!). Plus I was being the major tourist :)

The parts I saw of Canada were extremely clean - the roads had no trash on the side as you see in the US, and I did not even see much roadkill. I think they must have a "road fairy cleanup crew" that comes around to keep things so clean. I am also very impressed by all the recycling and green effort there is. Canada is light years ahead of the US on this. Every single hotel I stayed in had a separate trash bucket for recycleables. Even the gas stations have separate bins for trash and recycleables. Very impressive.

The local people I met and spoke with were unfailingly polite (I have mentioned that several times) and always helpful. There seems to be a little slower way of life, and I embrace that. Slow down... smell the coffee, smell the roses, notice the scenery. They were also very cheerful! I keep mentioning that, but it makes me smile. It can make your day. I actually ran into a couple from New Brunswick this afternoon here in Bangor when I was bringing in some of my things at the hotel, and they greeted me and stopped and we spoke a bit. Nice!

Taxes.... Huge..... 'Nuff said.

Tomorrow - home!

I hit the "publish" key on this too soon, so if you are viewing this page around 8:15 tonight you will want to revisit. I do have a few photos to add.

I will give a rundown and critique of the hotels I have stayed in once I am home. I did not think it prudent to publish their names and where I was staying while I was so far away from home.

Here are a few random shots out the windshield that amazingly came out not too badly.

Random roadside PEI

Random roadside New Brunswick

Random roadside PEI